Hitomi: ... ... ...I'm back. *KILLED IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE*

^^; First off, I am really, really, really sorry for disappearing from the fanfic world AND for putting my DGM fic, Unravel (for those who still-or care to-remember), on a very long hiatus. A lot of things happened, so let me just try to make this as short as possible before I start ranting.

1. I graduated college months ago. So, real life became my top priority and I've been job hunting. Not that easy to find or land on. Immediate family is honestly not helping either.

2. I've been writing a novel, original fiction of my own. Rue is in it too, so I'm letting you guys know I haven't forgotten about her or her story at all. However...

3. I've lost inspiration for quite some time to write Unravel due to character theft that occurred months back. Not long after I graduated, I found out someone stole Rue and modified her (her whole biography that I WROTE AND PUBLISHED MORE THAN ONCE ON THE NET) into a full blown Mary Sue for their own purposes. Long, long story (PM me if you want more details). Thankfully, it has been resolved. However, the incident has left me quite shaken and I can't help but feel blocked when writing.

So, I am writing a mini-series for Unravel, side stories and what not. And since the canon story has been dark the last time I wrote it months ago, I figured light hearted stuff was needed, so this came up to be.

^^ I dedicate this chapter to one of my loyal readers and friends, Heartbringer, for giving me this idea a long while back. Thank you for having me break the mold and getting me to write this. Since you knew about the Rue got stolen incident personally, I thank you for still being my friend and always looking forward to my writing, even though I had been blocked for months.

However, this story is for all of my fans and readers who've read Unravel and grew to like it. And still wait for long updates, despite my writer's block and hiatuses. This is my way of saying thank you up to now. I hope you enjoy this AND will look forward to the next Unravel update!

Disclaimer: D . Gray-Man isn't mine, it's Hoshino-sensei's creation. Only my OCs and stories I write in the DGM fanfic world belong to me.

Unravel: The Secret Files

I | The Blossoming of Rue

Like a breeze passing through, whispers echoed all around the Black Order.

God be good, when the Hell were they going to shut up? Seriously. Damn the Science Department and a certain supervisor in charge, it was their fault the whole Order was abuzz about her. If only they would stop making bizarre-and potentially dangerous-stuff, this wouldn't have happened in the first place!

What a very bad time for Lenalee to be out on a mission. Rue thought with a groan, rubbing her temples as she kept marching through the long corridors. Miranda is out too and Claire is very busy in the infirmary...

Hearing quiet talking within earshot, and seeing pointing fingers from the corner of her eye, it only took a hard glare from her to have the Finders run away. Bristled, the androgynous Exorcist continued onto her destination, restraining herself from doing anything impulsive.

Please, don't let him find out about t-

"What's all of the fuss about Rue t-"

Out of reflex, Rue turned around and gave quite a hard kick to the person who had chosen poor timing to be within her personal space. Once she identified who it was, she sucked in a sharp breath, cursing in her thoughts.

"Owww! What the!" Lavi let out a hiss, clutching his shin as he met the eyes of his attacker. "What was that for, you-!"

Abrupt silence. His mouth was agape, eye wide. Rue stepped back, not daring to breathe, unable to move. Her face went red and she refused to look at the next Bookman. Oh, she knew what came next. It was only a matter of time before that.

In 3, 2, 1...

"STRIIIIIIKE~!"

Bingo.

"Knock it off, Lavi." Rue crossed her arms, scowling at him. "It's not like you haven't seen a female before. And I need to point out right now I didn't ask for this, it happened."

"Wait... Rue?!" He had a double take after hearing her voice, now openly staring at her. In spite of how hard it was for him to believe, it was definitely her. "No way! You can't be her!"

"Who else were you expecting, the Millennium Earl?"

"But- What- When did you-?"

"Please, don't ask. I only have five words for you to answer your questions: Science Department and Supervisor Komui."

"Ouch." He had to wince at her answer. "Explains why many are talking about you as if you're a star or something today."

"Gee, you think? Which is why I want peace and quiet for the rest of the day and I'm seeking out help, concerning this. Not only that, it's obvious I didn't want them to find out I'm female."

Whirling herself to an about face, Rue soldiered on in the hallways, honestly trying not to lose herself. Sensing her silent distress and feeling he couldn't leave her alone, Lavi decided to follow her, wondering if there was anything to do for him to help.

True, this wouldn't be a big deal to a "normal" person. True again, one would think the crossdressing Exorcist was being oversensitive or dramatic.

Of course not, the Bookman apprentice understood her in more ways than one. She wasn't used to such attention. She wasn't used to changing so drastically, even if it was something small. Most of all, she wasn't used to being looked at as wholly female. So, it was no wonder she was like this.

"Rue..."

Silence. Only the pitter patter of their feet was a reply.

"...It doesn't suit me, does it?" She broke the quiet, her voice soft but small.

Why did his heart almost stop at that remark just now?

"I never said it didn't. It's just..." He was scratching the back of his head, at a loss of what to say. By now, his cheeks felt hot. "You know, when I saw you as you are now, I really couldn't say anything at all. My mind went to a total blank. And you know I compliment women, even during my Strike moments. When it comes to you, though, I'm... Floored."

Because you've always been so unpredictable. Because I don't know what to expect on what you'll do next.

"What I'm trying to say is... You've finally blossomed into a flower."

You're beautiful, no matter how you look like. This was what he meant to say. Much as his Bookman position explicitly favored detachment, it felt right to be sincere with her like this.

"I... I think I understand what you mean." She said in a whisper, the nape of her neck heating up, conscious of his eye watching her. "Thank you, Lavi. It means a lot, hearing that from you."

Without giving a chance for the awkward atmosphere to deepen, Rue turned to her left to knock on a door. Lavi glanced at her, smiling a little at the face she was making. He knew she was trying to be serious, but traces of shyness could be seen. It was only a brief moment that the Bookman apprentice finally realized whose door Rue was knocking on.

Another knock.

"If you don't open the door right now, I'm going to reveal the origin of your nickname. It's an emergency, Yuuri."

It didn't take long for Kanda to open the door. He was glowering, perhaps disturbed from meditation.

"This better be good, shorty-"

"Well, you can see my problem, right?"

He could. Unlike Lavi, Kanda masked his surprise effortlessly. It didn't stop him from studying his teammate. He can only guess the Science Department did this because the bean sprout had undergone the same transformation during the Komuivitan D incident.

Rue was trying not to move a muscle, glancing at Kanda expectantly. She clenched her hands in fists, her peripheral vision catching long, wavy locks of strawberry blonde falling below her shoulders. She shook her head, trying to ward off the feelings of self-consciousness.

"...Tch. Go." Kanda stepped back inside his room, leaving his door open. With a sigh, the tomboy felt a heavy weight lift off her shoulders.

"Thank you. Although I must admit if you hadn't let me through, I would've blackmailed you on the fact I know you steal Lenalee's hair ties in order for you to tie your hair up."

"How the Hell do you know that-"

Lavi fell onto the floor, by now in a fit of hystetical laughter.

"Shut up, you stupid rabbit!" The swordsman huffed, getting out Mugen in a flash to point at the other male's neck. "If word about that goes around, I WILL find out. The shorty is no gossip."

"Fine, fine." Standing up, Lavi put his hands up in surrender, a wavering grin on his face. "Geez, Yuu, I was kidding."

"Don't call me that unless you want to die!"

"Yuuri, please teach me how to fix my hair. You know I've always kept it short, so I'm not sure how to get around this. I would've asked Lenalee or the other, few females here, but they have duties." Both stopped their banter as they heard Rue's voice from inside Kanda's room. "The sooner this is fixed, the better to start now. You're the only one I can ask, so... Please."

"...Che, whatever you say, shorty." With that, Kanda turned around and strolled inside the room, ready to close the door.

"What? Can't I watch?" Lavi asked, a wide grin on his face.

"...Lavi, I'm going to kill you if this doesn't get fixed because time is being wasted." Before Kanda could make another threat, Rue's cold voice beat him to it. "And I don't care if you gave me a compliment earlier, that doesn't give you permission to watch my hair being fixed, so spare me the embarrassment. I will see you later. Kanda, the door."

"Gladly." With a small smirk to the other Exorcist, the swordsman finally closed the door.

Wow, she told you off good. Deak said with a short laugh.

Lavi grinned with a sigh, despite himself.

"You win some, you lose some, I suppose."

Hitomi: Whew... I know, I might've gotten rusty on my humor (then again, I don't consider myself as a funny person yet I keep attempting on writing humorous stuff, what gives? *laugh*). I made this story/mini series since Unravel has been left on a dark note since I last updated it. And it will still continue on dark stuff until it passes/until the next round of dark scenarios come around.

So, this story is the light hearted side of Unravel, if anything else. I will still write humorous/light hearted stuff in Unravel, but I feel it'll be less frequent. And I loved hearing how people laughed at Rue's Interview because it was needed as a break from the dark storyline, so that, too, motivated me to write this.

This chapter is more of a "what if" scenario if anything else since I'm not sure if Rue will end up growing out long hair like Allen did with that hair tonic in the Komuivitan D incident. So, it's not exactly Unravel canon. It's more of an idea that's been playing around in my head for quite some time. If we were to go by canon!DGM's timeline, this could probably take place after the Komuivitan D arc and before the Disappearance of Cross Marian and Phantom Thief G arcs. Though I hadn't clarified it in the chapter, Rue is still wearing her second uniform, not her third one. There's a reason for that.

XD And as you noticed, Rue and Kanda are getting along, though still retaining their relationship of hostile and snarky. And you can see Lavi and Rue are still developing feelings for each other, but it's subtle due to their circumstances (Bookman duties, Rue's crisis of Daisya's death, etc.). Such circumstances will be brought up in Unravel, but I can't say exactly what happens.

:3 Fufufu, I hope my inspiration and motivation for writing Unravel comes back~ But I will tell you one thing: expect something good to happen soon! *wink*